


Chrysanthemum

by metro_mania



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Loss
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2017-11-25
Packaged: 2019-02-06 14:26:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12819483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/metro_mania/pseuds/metro_mania
Summary: What if Chara went through with their plan without telling Asriel about it?





	Chrysanthemum

He couldn’t cry anymore, but the tears kept flowing.  The pain was awful, like his soul would leave his body.  He wished it would, actually.  Then he could be with them again.  He could apologize for everything that went wrong, everything that he didn’t do right.  Maybe if he had been more careful, if he had been just a little bit quicker, he could have saved them.  Mom and dad kept saying that he did everything right.  That he did everything he could have done to save them, but he didn’t believe them.  If that were true, then Chara would still be here, probably calling him a crybaby for all the tears leaving matted streaks down his snout.  

Even in his dark room, the glowing red image was burned into his mind.  It was so soft, so fragile.  He needed to protect it, keep it from any further harm.  Chara had been in enough pain for one lifetime, and if he could have just gotten to their soul in time, he could have protected them forever.  He knew the legends, he knew what would happen if he absorbed their soul.  No one really knew what would happen if a monster absorbed a human soul, but they had a really good theory about it.

But he didn’t care about the power.  

He didn’t even care about crossing the barrier.  

If the scientists were right, and Asriel hoped that they were, then there would be a melding of consciousnesses.  Two minds controlling one body.  And, since he felt responsible for their death, he would be more than happy to let them share his.  And then him and Chara could have stayed together forever, just like he had hoped for.

But that was in the past.  Even with kicking and screaming at his father to let him go, clawing at his robes to try and get free, he couldn’t get to their soul.  He just watched as mom bottled it up in some glass container, tears streaming freely down her face, and walked out of the room cradling it in her arms.

And so, he stopped speaking to them.

Three days had passed in silence.  He cried, of course, but he wouldn’t let them in.  Wouldn’t let them see how he was feeling.  Which was awful, by the way.  

Right now, Asriel clutched onto one of his best friends sweaters, curling around it like some animal protecting its last remaining cub.  He had buried himself in the blankets of Chara’s bed and was determined to stay in the corner of their shared room forever.  Tears were soaking into the fabric.

Softly, quietly, Asriel heard the door to the room open.  He didn’t need to turn to know who it was.  His father’s footfalls were much louder than his mother's, and his claws made a specific sound on the floor as they crept along closer to Chara’s bed.  

No, Asriel was still mad.  Still too enraged to let them in.  If he gave them an inch, they would force him to come out, and he just couldn’t bear the thought of it.

Asgore sat looking down at the pile of blankets that was currently emitting a soft whimpering noise and sighed.  His face, too, sported two twin streaks of matted fur.  He hadn’t slept the past too days, too concerned with both his son’s agony in the next room over and his wife’s pained sobs laying next to him.  Thankfully, the regional governors were responsible and autonomous enough to take charge of their districts in his time of grief, but it was obvious from his eyes that the lessened responsibility did not help in lessening his grief.

“My son, please come out of there.”  This would be the fifth time he tried to coax his son out of his corner.  He had tried to pick him up and carry him away the day before, but that only resulted in gut wrenching screams from the younger monster.  You would have thought that someone was trying to murder him with how loud he was.

“My child, please come join us in the kitchen.  It is not safe to stay in this state for so long.”  Toriel’s voice was soft and sweet, but grief could be heard laced throughout every word.  Again, tears had left their mark on the usually stoic queen.

Asriel was actually surprised.  Not enough to stop crying, but enough to cock his head in their general direction.  Either his crying had distracted him or his mother had learned how to walk quieter.  Either way, he had not heard her enter his room.  Maybe they deserved some response.  Just a little one.

“Go.”  Short and sweet, just how the young prince had planned it.  No emotion, no rage.  Just a statement, a command, if you will.

Asgore and Toriel were caught off guard by their son’s voice, but the response had apparently given them hope because they tried again.

“Asriel please,” Toriel all but begged, “come out of there.  We just want to talk to you, to hear your voice once again.”

This was what he was afraid of.  Give them an inch, and they’ll take a mile.  A saying that Chara had taught him.  They must not have gotten the message from his first response.  Maybe another one will get the point across to them.

“GO!  LEAVE ME ALONE!”  It felt like Asriel’s words could be heard across the underground they were so loud.  This time, no neutrality was kept in his voice.  He let the rage and anger seep into his words, making it perfectly clear where he stood with his traitors.  

This time, the rulers of the underground did not respond.  Asgore’s head fell down in defeat while sobs began to wrack Toriel’s body once again.  Wordlessly, Asgore led his wife from the room, making sure to close the door carefully behind him.

Asriel maybe would have felt guilty for making his mother cry any other time, but he was too engrossed in his grief to care.  He needed time.  To do what exactly, he didn’t know.  He just knew that with time would come a plan.

…

The house had finally fallen silent.  Asriel had heard his parent’s walk into their bedroom about half an hour ago.  No light was coming from under his door, and he could hear soft snoring through the wall if he payed close attention.  At least they are getting some sleep tonight, he thought.

Carefully, silently, Asriel summoned a flame to his hand.  A low one that gave off no heat, but provided him with enough light to read a book.  Once he was confident that the flame would stay lit, he moved his hand away, letting the fire dance above him while he paged through his book.

_ A Royal Historia of the Families of Monsters _ read the cover.  Asriel had looked through it twice before.  Once on the day that Chara had fallen into the underground, and again on the day they had died.  Ironic, wasn’t it.  

Previously, the lack of pictures in the book disinterested him from reading it.  He only did so because either his mother made him or because Chara like to hear about the ancient customs of monsters.  (He would tease Chara about this occasionally, calling them a nerd whenever they would call him a crybaby.  He never had any malice to back up those remarks, though.  He couldn’t do that to Chara.)

This time, however, Asriel actually had an interest in reading it.  Chara had been too sick to sit up and read during their final days, and because of the sores and welts that inhabited their mouth, they couldn’t really tell him what they were interested in reading.  While skimming through the chapters to find something, he had come upon a section describing a boss monster funeral. 

He didn’t want to even consider that possibility back then, but now he wanted to know more.  Mom had mentioned once when he was younger and asked so many questions that a boss monster funeral was much different from a normal monster funeral, and especially so for the royal family.  Chara wasn’t a boss monster, but they were part of the royal family.  Asriel wanted to at least honor them in the correct way, seeing as his parents wouldn't do so.

Asriel began to read, but was crestfallen to find the same procedure as a regular monster funeral.  Collect the dust yada yada favorite object yada yada.  He had seen this all before.  Chara’s body had been moved somewhere after they had died, but it was still whole.  No dust.

He almost skipped the section entirely and went back to his corner when he realized that it didn’t end with spreading the dust.  It actually continued on for several more pages.  Reading on, Asriel realized there was so much more at stake.  

Apparently, when a boss monster dies, the beginning of the funeral is the same.  Their dust is collected, spread over their favorite object, and everything goes on as usual.  But, after this is done, something still has to happen to their souls.  Because a boss monster’s soul is stronger than a normal monster’s, it typically persists for several days after death.  This is nothing compared to a human soul’s capacity, but it is enough time to hold a ceremony.  

The boss monster’s soul is taken to a sacred place to them, somewhere they felt at peace.  Once there, songs are sung and stories are told, and then the soul is left to fade out of existence.  A sweet gesture.

But, it’s even more different for a member of the royal family.  When royalty dies, a monster is chosen to be placed under a spell and somehow accompany the boss monster to the afterlife.  Then, once their journey is finished, their soul returns to their body and they are rewarded for their duty.  

Asriel couldn’t care less about the intricacies of the reward or how the selection of the monster is conducted.  What he did care about was the spell that they used.

It was an ancient piece of magic, completely foreign to him, that involved candles, symbols, and spices.  He had never seen something like this done.  Mom never mentioned any spells involving external ingredients, only the ones she casted from her hands.  

But Asriel was determined.  If his parents wouldn’t let him absorb Chara’s soul, then he would just have to take them to the afterlife.  So, with book in hand and flame above, Asriel snuck out of his bedroom and made his way to the kitchen, determined to see his friend once again.

Maybe then he could apologize for not saving them.  Maybe then he could finally tell them how much they meant to him.   

**Author's Note:**

> Heyo! I hope you liked it! I'm not sure how many chapters there will be to this, but it wont be too many.


End file.
